Chloë Grace Moretz Preaches Self-Love at Last Night’s New York City Premiere for The Miseducation of Cameron Post

“I think it was one of the most naturalistically written scripts I’ve read—honestly in my career,” said Chloë Grace Moretz during last night’s premiere for The Miseducation of Cameron Post, based on the novel of the same name by Emily M. Danforth. An unfettered coming-of-age story, Moretz plays a high school girl encountering the warped repercussions of discovering her sexuality when she’s forced into a religious conversion therapy camp. Set in the early ’90s, friendships are forged and tested under the harsh practices of therapist Dr. Lydia Marsh (played by Jennifer Ehle) and the acoustic guitar–loving Reverend Rick (played by John Gallagher, Jr.).

Guests filed into the Midtown East City Cinemas 123 theater sharing stories of shock after having realized these reckless and unfounded practices are still performed today. “This film takes place in the early ’90s, and I thought it had to take place in the past, because it’s an issue we don’t have to worry about anymore. But sure enough, I think it’s only 14 states that have passed legislation to make it illegal to practice this kind of therapy, which is hard to even wrap your head around in this day and age,” remarked Gallagher.

In a gold foil–color Self-Portrait dress, director Desiree Akhavan reiterated how important it was to be true to the story. “Authenticity matters to me. It matters to me that the queer characters are authentic, the Native American characters are authentic, and the characters in conversion therapy; I want to put my money where my mouth is.” True to her word, Akhavan worked closely with survivor Mathew Shurka, who provided several of his own personal experiences to keep the film as authentic as possible. “I was in gay conversion therapy for five years, and my first treatment was in New York City—on 17th Street and Third Avenue, and my conversion therapist still practices to this day.” One scene in the film was an exact replica of what Shurka had experienced in a facility in Charlottesville, Virginia. “Conversion therapy is one of the hardest stories to tell, and Desiree captures it.”

After the screening, guests migrated a couple blocks down to La Pulperia for the cozy after-party. Glasses of generously filled red and white wine lined the bar. Sasha Lane, who played Moretz’s free-spirited counterpart, changed out of her opal sequin Balmain dress and into ripped jeans and sneakers. The night, like the film, ended on a high note. Moretz in a pitch-black Simone Rocha number remarked on the importance of finding your “chosen family.” “Sometimes, you’re born into a family that will never accept you, and you feel like there is no other way to move on, but the reality is that you can find your chosen family. You can find people who are happy to support you, who will see you as the person that you deserve to be.”

The raw and real The Miseducation of Cameron Post premieres in theaters on Friday, August 3.